The sessions court rejected Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader’s plea to dismiss criminal proceedings against him in the Toshakhana reference case and scheduled May 10 for the indictment of the former prime minister.
Sessions Judge Humayun Dilawar delivered the verdict after reserving it. The decision was made after listening to detailed arguments from the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) lawyer Advocate Amjad Pervaiz and Imran Khan’s lawyer Khwaja Haris. As a result, the judge has summoned Imran to appear in person on May 10.
During the hearing, Imran’s lawyer argued about the admissibility of the ECP’s complaint and questioned the court’s jurisdiction. In court, Haris cited sections 190 and 193 of the Election Act. The lawyer argued that the application disputing the admissibility was filed under Section 190A of the Election Act, and the sessions court couldn’t hear the case directly.
Haris further stated that the admissibility of a case and its trial status were separate matters, and the court could hear the case if referred under Section 190. Finally, the lawyer provided several judicial decisions as evidence.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) forwarded the Toshakhana reference to the trial court on November 22, 2017, to initiate criminal proceedings against the PTI leader under Sections 137, 170, and 167 of the 2017 Election Act.
The case was referred to the court a month after a four-member ECP bench unanimously ruled that Imran had misled officials about gifts he received from foreign dignitaries during his tenure as prime minister. The trial was initially postponed until April 29 due to Ramadan and Eid, but the election supervisor requested an earlier hearing date, leading the court to hear the ECP’s request on April 1
